In December 2018, DBS Bank partnered with Halcyon Agri Corp. to launch HeveaConnect, a digital trading platform for sustainable rubber. As part of the deal, DBS took a minority stake in the platform, and soon after, Japanese trading giant Itochu Corp. joined DBS as a joint venture partner in the project.

HeveaConnect has agreed to a share placement of ordinary shares for Itochu. Share subscription and principal terms are currently being finalized, and will be announced when the process is complete.

Expected to launch globally in the first quarter of this year, HeveaConnect is an initial move toward more sustainable rubber practices. The platform aims to be a one-stop location, connecting natural rubber farmers, rubber producers, and tire manufacturers in an integrated ecosystem. HeveaConnect will also increase transparency in the sector, as consumers will be able to track prices and supply information, and conduct deals directly through the platform, which will also offer value-added services such as insurance, financing, and logistics.

“HeveaConnect will not only be able to promote greater price transparency in the natural rubber market, but will also serve as an all-inclusive platform for farmers, producers, tyre [sic] manufacturers, as well as facilitators such as financial institutions, logistics and warehousing suppliers,” said Robert Meyer, executive director and CEO, Halcyon. “Halcyon is first adopter as a natural rubber producer and we are also in discussion with our tyre [sic] customers to come onboard.”

HeveaConnect also will serve as the exclusive selling platform for Hevea-Pro TSR (Technically Specified Rubber), Halcyon’s line of sustainably processed rubber, which is supplied to the global tire industry and accounts for 75 percent of global natural rubber.

Coming together, the partnership is a complimentary one. Halcyon brings the supply and customer networks needed for commercial scale, as well as the volume to effectively transition the global natural rubber industry from one that is heavily dependent upon paper transactions to a unified digital marketplace. Meanwhile, DBS brings its expertise in digitization and innovative banking, and is well positioned to fill its role as the platform’s main banking partners, offering working capital financing, trade and commodity financing for buyers, and financing to smallholder farmers and producers who have had previously found gaining access to financing challenging.

“We are pleased to collaborate with DBS as our key banking partner for HeveaConnect. DBS’s successful digital strategy and approach to financing fits with our digitisation [sic] strategy to make a difference in the natural rubber industry,” said Meyer.

“As the bank with the world’s largest API platform in the banking industry, we continuously explore new ways to harness our digital capabilities to help our customers solve their business challenges,” said Raof Latiff, head of digital, institutional banking, DBS Bank. “By integrating our APIs to facilitate trade financing to both upstream and downstream rubber players through HeveaConnect, we are also able to deepen our understanding of our customers’ needs, allowing us to provide innovative advice to best position their businesses for a sustainable future. We are pleased to be part of Halcyon’s ambition to be the leading provider of sustainable natural rubber.”

Halcyon continues to further its work to increase sustainability, by incorporating HEVEAPRO, the intellectual property rights of its sustainable natural rubber processing standards, into the HeveaConnect platform, which will only transact HEAVEPRO rubber as a way to drive the industry toward a higher level of sustainability.

Under the HEVEAPRO mandate, standards are being expanded to include the tracking of sustainable practices in rubber plantations and smallholders’ plots, promoting responsible production practices, and higher traceability requirements for the act of sourcing natural rubber, which is currently compromised by a widely fragmented base of suppliers.

-Lynda Kiernan

The post DBS, Halcyon Agri Launch Sustainable Rubber Marketplace, Itochu Joins as Investor appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Paris-based mass-scale breeder and producer Ÿnsect announced it has raised a record breaking $125 million Series C, led by Astanor Ventures, and including Bpifrance, Talis Capital, Idinvest Partners, Finasucre, and Compagnie du Bois Sauvage. Other participating investors were  Crédit Agricole Brie Picardie, Caisse d’Epargne Hauts-de-France, Picardie Investissement, Vis Vires New Protein Ventures, and Singapore-based family office, Happiness Capital

Founded in 2011 by Antione Hubert, Alexis Angot, Fabrice Berro, and Jean Gabriel Levon, Ÿnsect is working to create a sustainable food system, and to meet growing global demand for protein through tapping into insect protein at a mass-market scale.

As global protein consumption is on pace to climb by 52 percent between 2007 and 2030, Ÿnsect’s farming operations focus on the Molitor – a small common beetle also known as the mealworm – to make high-quality natural ingredients for pet foods, aquaculture feed, and plants.

The company intends to use the capital from this round in support of its plans to build the largest insect farm in the world in Amiens, in the north of France. Once the first phase is complete, the facility will have the annual capacity to produce 20,000 tons of insect protein, and will have the potential for further expansion.

Rising global populations and increasing wealth – particularly in emerging economies – along with diminishing wild fish numbers, have put pressure on the aquaculture industry in particular to fill the gap in supply, and as a result, is the fastest growing protein source for human nutrition.

Predictive modeling by The World Bank estimates that by 2030, 62 percent of food fish will be provided through aquaculture, and from 2030 onward, aquaculture will dominate supply in the industry, according to the report, Fish to 2030, Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture.  Ancillary to this, the aquafeed market, which was valued at $114 billion in 2017, is expected to grow by 250 percent in eight years to a value of $290 billion by 2026.

“By offering an insect protein alternative to traditional animal and fish-based feed sources, Ÿnsect can help offset the growing competition for ocean fish stock required to feed two billion more people by 2050, while alleviating fish, water and soil depletion, as well as agriculture’s staggering 25 percent share of global greenhouse gas emissions,” says Antoine Hubert, CEO and chairman of Ÿnsect. “Our goal is simply to give insects back their natural place in the food chain.”

Ÿnsect has identified the Molitor as the only insect that can be farmed at scale. Through its pioneering technology, and with 25 technology patents, the company produces ŸnMeal, extracted from Molitor larvae, which provides premium nutrition and health benefits to shrimp, salmon, trout, and sea bass, among other species; and ŸnFrass, which is made from Molitor larvae castings, and is a premium fertilizer benefitting a wide variety of plants.

“Enabled by deep tech, the entire production process – from feeding to controlling the health and welfare of our insects, and from the sensors used for quality control to harvesting mature insects – is automated,” said Hubert. “We have 25 patents covering our technology, the products themselves and their different applications, giving Ÿnsect the world’s largest insect patent portfolio. But ultimately, we need scale to have a significant impact globally, which this investment will allow us to achieve.”

Regulations and Record Funding

A previous record-breaking funding round in the insect farming industry occurred in June of last year, when UK-based fly farmer and waste-to-nutrient company AgriProtein Holdings UK, raised $105 million in funding.

One large factor driving an increase in the capital being committed in the European insect farming industry is the endorsement by the European Commission of a proposal to allow insects as a component of feed for the aquaculture industry as of July 2017.

“This is a huge development for insect protein producers and it give us the means to secure investment and build bigger capacity so we can generate more volumes over the next two years,” Hubert, who is also president of the International Platform for Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), told Feed Navigator at the time.

Work is also ongoing by insect producer associations for Southeast Asia (AFFIA), Europe (IPIFF), North America (NACIA) and Australia (IPAA), which, at a meeting held in Brussels in mid-January of this year, collectively called for policy and research strategies that support insect production as it aligns with targets set for healthy diets and sustainable food production.

“Our strategy is articulated around two main objectives,” said Heinrich Katz, the IPIFF representative. “To promote ambitious policy plans to support the development of our sector on one hand, and on the other hand, to build bridges with food and feed chain partners including emerging industries that are active in the development of new protein sources.”

Investors are also recognizing current macro trends and industry conditions that point toward the potential for successful growth, and return on investment for insect protein production.

“With the global population expected to grow to nine billion by 2050, current aquaculture and animal feeding practices are unsustainable,” said Matus Maar, co-founder and managing partner, Talis Capital. “Ÿnsect taps into a huge, yet highly inefficient global market by offering a premium and – above all – sustainable insect-derived product through a fully automated, AI-enabled production process. Of the many things that excite us about Antoine and the Ÿnsect team, their 50+ years combined experience in insect farming, physiological entomology and biochemistry, we believe, is unmatched.”

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Ÿnsect Raises Record-Setting $125M Series C appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

CONSULTANT’S CORNER: Please enjoy this month’s issue of Consultant’s Corner — where the industry experts from HighQuest Consulting provide insight on the latest activities in the ag investing and agtech space.

By Philippe de Lapérouse and Mark Zavodnyik, HighQuest Consulting

Just as robotics and automation are increasingly being adopted in agricultural production, these technologies are also be harnessed by downstream sectors of the retail food industry.

In 2016, electronics producer Panasonic launched an initiative with Japanese grocery convenience store chain Lawson to develop an automated checkout machine called “Reji Robot,” that, according to Panasonic, had the capability to reduce store labor costs by up to 10 percent. At the time the partnership was announced, Lawson President and COO Sadanobu Takemasu told The Wall Street Journal, “[The Reji Robot] “could bring a revolution to the broader retailing industry. We all face a scarcity of labor.”[1]

While Japan has been a leader in the development of robotic technologies to address the country’s labor shortage resulting from an aging and shrinking population, the adoption of automation technology in the West is driven by other considerations.

In the dynamic U.S. grocery retail sector, competition for consumers’ food purchases is becoming fiercer as margins compress. Retailers are constantly seeking out innovative technologies to differentiate themselves from their competitors. New distribution platforms such as online ordering (FreshDirect, Peapod, AmazonFresh, etc.), and home delivery kits (Blue Apron, Plated, etc.) have further crowded the marketplace.

In the world of brick and mortar retailers, the use of robotics, AI, data sensors, etc. are proving to be the disruptors of the moment. The use of automation not only improves the in-store consumer experience (shelf scanning, price checking, aisle monitoring, etc.) and creates opportunities to engage with younger consumers, but also provides retailers access to valuable data on consumer purchasing behavior, which can be used to make informed decisions on how to handle their own supply chains.

The adoption of automation technologies in food retail has been accelerated following Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017, and the launch of Amazon Go retail outlets which leverage a range of automation technologies to provide customers with a unique shopping experience, including no checkouts and no lines.   

To keep up with Amazon’s push into the grocery channel, some of the biggest established grocery retailers are now focusing on the integration of these technologies in both their stores and supply chains. For example, in March 2018, Walmart announced that it was testing the use of robots in stores to monitor inventory, check prices, and notify humans of re-stocking needs, etc.[2]

More recently, in January 2019, Giant Food Stores announced that it was rolling out its “Marty” robot across its 172 stores located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. According to a message labeled on the robot itself, “Marty is an autonomous robot that uses image capturing technology to report spills, debris, and other potential hazards to store employees to improve your shopping experience.” The rollout is part of an effort by Ahold Delhaize USA, Giant’s parent company, to deploy as many as 500 Marty robots across its network of U.S. retail chains, which also include Martin’s and Stop & Shop.[3]

In addition to maximizing operating efficiencies within stores, new automation technologies are also being used to automate and reduce labor costs incurred further up the supply chain. In May 2018, Kroger and British online supermarket Ocado announced a partnership to build the first automated grocery warehouse in Ohio. The agreement provides Kroger with an opportunity to tap into the technology developed by Ocado, which operates warehouses using robots to process as many as 65,000 online grocery orders per week.[4]

Interestingly, while the use of robots may have been originally intended as a labor-saving technology, announcements by retailers in the U.S. and Europe of intentions to adopt automated technologies in their stores are often accompanied by promises from management that the use of robots are not intended to result in reductions of in-store workforce.

In October 2018, Midwest grocer Schnuck Markets announced that it was rolling out its robot, “Tally” to 15 of its stores. Tally, the result of a partnership between Schnuck Markets and Simbe Robotics, can provide alerts for out-of-stock items, look for pricing errors, and deliver real-time sales metrics to brand manufacturers.[5] In comments made to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Schnuck Markets VP of IT Infrastructure and Application Development Dave Steck said, “This is not to displace jobs. It still takes someone to order [merchandise], receive it from the warehouse and ultimately to stock it. There are no arms or legs on this robot.”[6]

Going forward, adoption of automation technologies such as robotics in grocery retail will likely be driven primarily by the opportunity it provides to gain novel insights into consumer behavior as well as providing real, tangible cost savings into supply chain management, as opposed to focusing on reducing labor costs.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Philippe de Lapérouse is a managing director at HighQuest Partners, a leading global strategy advisory and consulting firm. HighQuest advises strategic players operating in and financial investors allocating capital to the global food and agricultural value chains on making informed decisions on strategy and resource allocation. Lapérouse chairs the Global AgInvesting conference series. He can be reached in St. Louis at +1 314.960.1632 or via email at pdelaperouse@highquestpartners.com.

Mark Zavodnyik is project manager for HighQuest Partners where he leads the day-to-day execution of consulting projects, advising clients on strategy and investment decisions across the global agricultural value chain. Previously, he was the lead tropical oils trader at AAK USA with responsibility for all sourcing, trading, and risk management in the United States. Zavodnyik has spoken at industry conferences on the efforts the industry has undertaken to make palm oil more environmentally sustainable. He can be reached at +1.574.274.3099 or mzavodnyik@highquestpartners.com.

[2] http://fortune.com/2018/03/26/walmart-robot-bossa-nova/

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/01/14/giant-food-stores-will-place-robotic-assistants-inside-locations-company-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.453d42e80688

[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2018/11/19/kroger-and-ocado-plan-to-build-first-automated-robot-warehouse-in-ohio/#7dcd092d5ea3

[5] https://nourish.schnucks.com/web-ext/news/news-detail/570

[6] https://nypost.com/2017/07/27/the-robot-invasion-has-begun-in-the-grocery-aisle/

The post Consultant’s Corner: Technology Advancements in Grocery Retail appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Tilray Inc., a British Columbia-based cannabis cultivator, producer, researcher, and distributor, and portfolio company of leading cannabis investment group Privateer Holdings,  has made the jump into food, acquiring Manitoba Harvest, the world’s largest provider of hemp-based foods, for C$419 million (US$318 million).

Founded in 1998, Manitoba Harvest produces a wide range of hemp-based consumer products, including Hemp Hearts™, Hemp Oil™, Hemp Yeah!™ granola, Hemp Yeah!™ protein powder, and Hemp Bliss™ milk, all of which are sold in more than 16,000 retail outlets across the U.S. and Canada.

“Tilray’s acquisition of Manitoba Harvest is a milestone for the cannabis industry. It builds on the strategic partnerships we have formed with consumer brand industry leaders and demonstrates our track record of disrupting the global pharmaceutical, alcohol, CPG, and functional food and beverage categories,” said Brendan Kennedy, president and CEO of Tilray. “We’re excited to work with Manitoba Harvest to develop and distribute a diverse portfolio of branded hemp-derived CBD food and wellness products in the U.S. and Canada.”

Recent Windfall

It wasn’t too long ago that headlines featured Tilray, making news by providing Seattle-based Privateer, which holds a 76 percent stake in the company, with a multi-billion dollar windfall.

Based in Nanaimo, a town in Vancouver Island, Canada, Tilray grabbed the spotlight among cannabis startups by listing on the Nasdaq, allowing U.S. investors and hedge funds access to its stock. By doing so, Tilray, which had revenue of $20 million last year, has surpassed Canopy Growth to be the largest cannabis company in the world, reaching a valuation of $12 billion in May, and surging to more than $20 billion amid a sweep of volatility.

When GAI News spoke with Kennedy in 2018, he noted, “This year, the cannabis industry will get even more global. Most people who operate in this industry think myopically about the opportunity in terms of their own niche or corner of the world. We don’t see it that way. We recognize that we are in the midst of a worldwide paradigm shift.”

Off the List

With the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill came the legalization of the industrial production of hemp in the U.S., opening the door for the influx of investment capital and the opportunity for vast market expansion.

By removing hemp from the list of controlled substances and legalizing its production, the Farm Bill will be the catalyst to turn what has been a boutique activity since 1937 when the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made the possession of cannabis and hemp illegal, into a business that has the potential to generate revenues of more than $20 billion per year by 2020.

Although not the same plant, hemp has long been conflated with marijuana for decades (hemp does not contain the levels of THC that marijuana does). Through the Farm Bill’s removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, it effectively shifts all regulatory oversight of the crop from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). And although regulations will remain in place governing its production, it is important to note that hemp will now be treated as a mainstream commodity crop, and its growers will be entitled to the protections afforded under the Federal Crop Insurance Act.

With such a positive market horizon, Tilray and Manitoba Harvest plan to increase both companies’ revenue by leveraging Manitoba Harvests’ established distribution network, and its experienced team and manufacturing capabilities including two high quality BRC AA+ certified manufacturing facilities. And while the deal will expand Tilray’s product portfolio into the natural foods category, and give it access to Manitoba Harvests’ expertise in working with cannabinoids and cannabidoil (CBD), it also will be able to capitalize upon Manitoba’s significant sales and distribution networks.

“We are excited about being an important part of the growth strategy for Tilray,” said Bill Chiasson, Manitoba Harvest CEO. “By leveraging our combined strengths and capabilities, we will be able to accelerate our mission of transforming consumer health through the power of hemp.”

Once the deal is completed, Manitoba Harvest will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tilray, able to leverage Tilray’s position in the global cannabis industry and its strategic partners. Together the two companies will work to develop innovative and new CBD wellness products and hemp-based food products.

-Lynda Kiernan  

The post Privateer Holdings’ Tilray Makes US$318M Jump Into Food appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Global alternative investment manager Artesian has partnered with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) to launch GrainInnovate, a $50 million venture capital fund focusing on innovative solutions for Australia’s grain producers.

“Artesian Venture Partners has raised $50 million to establish the fund, including a $25 million cornerstone investment from GRDC, the largest single investor in grains research in the country, and $25 million from Artesian,” said Jeremy Colless, managing partner, Artesian.

“This initiative is unique in that it’s focused entirely on the Australian grains industry,” said John Woods, chairman, GRDC. “It also represents one of the largest institutional capital pools in Australia. It will act as a beacon to attract world-class agri technologies to boost innovation and modernisation across the grains industry.”

Managed by Artesian, the fund will make investments from seed to growth stage in scalable startups found both domestically in Australia and overseas. However, each startup considered must be active in developing technologies or business models that benefit Australia’s grain growers. Under its mandate, categories of interest will include sensor technologies, crop storage logistics, renewable technologies, task automation, crop protection technologies, crop management logistics, water and nutrient use efficiency, and genetic tools and technologies.

“Whether you’re a grower, breeder, research scientist, agronomist or ag tech developer – if you’ve got an innovation that can improve production or address a grains industry constraint– we want to hear from you so we can capitalise [sic] on those opportunities and maximise[sic] the productiveness of our systems,” said Woods.

Seed stage investments will range from $25,000 to $100,000; angel stage investments will be between $100,000 to $500,000; Series A investments will range from $500,000 to $5 million; and at growth stage, Artesian will work with the GRDC and its partners to facilitate further capital commitments.

Through capital funding, the GRDC and Artesian aim to bring disruption to Australia’s grain production systems and its research and development initiatives.

“While GRDC has a strong and diverse investment portfolio, this initiative will give grain growers access to cutting edge ideas and technologies whether developed in a shed in the back paddock in Parkes, or discovery in a Germany based international life science company, or an agri-tech company in the Silicon valley,” said Woods.

Full Court Press

The launch of GrainInnovate comes nearly concurrently with the announced launch of Australia for Agriculture 4.0 – a new a new initiative backed by Austrade, Australia’s national promotional agency for trade and investment, with the goal of transforming overseas interest in agtech and food tech into capital investment in the country’s startups.

Although Australian innovators have been developing solutions for a variety of challenges facing the country’s growers – including drought, animal management, and disease and pest control – the Australian government noted that an existing lack of capital is hobbling the advancement of these developments. As recently as 2017, 80 percent of all agtech investments made in Australia were less than $1 million, according to Australian Financial Review, and of these investments, most were in the form of government grants or through accelerators.

As such, Australia’s government and its private players are responding in a full court press to fund and harness the potential of ag technologies being developed worldwide.

“Australia has the potential to be a powerhouse in agrifood tech and we want to help the sector reach its full potential,” said Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment.“Our farmers are some of the most innovative in the world but we’re behind the pack when it comes to commercialising [sic] our food and farming technologies.”

For Artesian, this is not the only investment vehicle it’s managing with the goal of transforming Australian ag. The firm is also the manager of the SproutX Venture Capital Fund, launched in 2017. A portion of the capital committed to the fund came from Artesian, which itself secured an investment of $85 million from superannuation fund, Hostplus earlier that year.

-Lynda Kiernan 

The post New $50M Agtech VC Fund to Develop Innovative Solutions for Australian Grain Industry appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

A collective of some of the world’s top all-star athletes are investing in plant-based meat producer Beyond Meat.

The roster of names is being announced as part of the company’s Go Beyond campaign and includes Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Paul, DeAndre Hopkins, Victor Oladipo, Lindsey Vonn, DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee, Harrison Barnes, Malcolm Jenkins, Derrick and Charity Morgan, Alex Honnold, Shaun White, and Luke Walton.

These athletes join existing Beyond Meat shareholders JJ Redick, Tony Gonzales, Leonardo DiCaprio, Thomas Middleditch, David Wright, Eric Bledsoe, Maya Moore, Tia Blanco, April Ross and Maggie Vessey, as well as forward-thinking celebrities Snoop Dogg, Common, Jessica Chastain, Liza Koshy, and Nicole Williams in championing the brand.

Adding athletic investors and brand ambassadors reflects the understanding of the connection between the food you eat and physical performance, and aligns with the company’s latest campaign which “spotlights the inner spirit and drive to reach the unattainable… and propels its mission to perfectly build meat directly from plants.”

“At Beyond Meat, our goal is to provide consumers with plant-based meats that represent the Future of Protein – delicious, satiating protein and fuel for the body that is unburdened by health concerns increasingly associated with various animal meats,” said Ethan Brown, founder and CEO, Beyond Meat. “It’s not surprising to see that world-class athletes who are dialed into their bodies are early adopters of plant-based meat.”

Connected with the campaign is a video featuring stories gathered from this group of latest investors and ambassadors, and featuring All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving who said, “I wasn’t always the tallest or most gifted athlete, I had to work on it and in the process of working on my craft, it meant going beyond what everyone else was doing – breaking free of the mold to go beyond what was expected of me. I’m truly elated to be a part of Beyond Meat, a company that’s growing exponentially and doing it in a way that’s connecting people not just to great food, but to an incredible community.”

Beyond Meat is not unfamiliar with high-profile rounds and investors. In October 2016, Tyson, the largest meat company in the U.S. by sales, became the first global meat company to invest in a meat alternative startup when it announced it had acquired a 5 percent stake in the plant-based producer for an undisclosed amount.

Although small in comparison to Tyson’s 2014 acquisition of Hillshire Brands for $7.7 billion, this move by Tyson carries significant weight in what it signals.

“We’re enthusiastic about this investment,” said Monica McGurk, Tyson Foods’ executive vice president of strategy and new ventures  and president of foodservice at the time, adding, “which gives us exposure to a fast-growing segment of the protein market. It meets our desire to offer consumers choices and to consider how we can serve an ever-growing and diverse global population…”

A year later, in December 2017, the company raised $55 million through a Series F round that included former McDonalds CEO Don Thompson, and included repeat investor Tyson Foods.

During that same quarter, in October 2017, the company announced the addition of Leonardo DiCaprio as an investor in the company and as an advocate. At the time, DiCaprio joined not only Tyson, but existing investors, Bill Gates, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, the Humane Society of the United States, and Biz Stone and Evan Williams – the two co-founders of Twitter.

Global protein consumption is expected to climb at a CAGR of 1.7 percent, reaching 943 million tons by 2054, according to Lux Research. However, livestock production has come under fire for its effects upon the environment.

“Livestock production is a major contributor to carbon emissions. Shifting from animal meat to the plant-based meats developed by Beyond Meat is one of the most powerful measures someone can take to reduce their impact on our climate,” said DiCaprio upon the announcement.

Over this same time period, alternative protein sources are forecast to command up to a third of the protein market. This trend is taking particular hold in the U.S. market, where 60 percent of consumers between the ages of 15 and 70 say they are reducing their intake of meat-based foods, and of those reducing their intake, 55 percent indicate that the dietary change will be permanent, according to data gathered by HealthFocus, reports Food Dive.

Beyond Meat has become a leader riding this wave of change in consumption intent. Requiring 99 percent less water, 93 percent less land, nearly 50 percent less energy, and emitting 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a quarter pounder U.S. beef burger, the Beyond Burger has seen sales reach 50 million to-date across 15 countries.

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Shaquille O’Neal, Thirteen Other Athletes Invest in Beyond Meat appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

BASF Venture Capital has committed $2 million to Alchemist Accelerator’s fund. At least half of the investment will be earmarked to fund agtech, nutrition, material informatics, and 3D printing startups.

This investment will help accelerate BASF’s engagement with technologies including AI, robotics, and the Internet of Things.

“Digitalization represents unprecedented opportunities to create value for our customers and develop new business models,” said Markus Solibieda, managing director, BASF Venture Capital. “By investing in a digitally-focused fund, we promote innovations at the intersection of chemicals and technologies like artificial intelligence, internet of things and robotics.”

Launched in 2013, Alchemist Accelerator seeds 75 startups per year, providing exclusive connections to the best enterprise coaches, investors, and early adopter customers as part of its six-month program.

Since its inception, 24 companies funded by Alchemist Accelerator have gone on to be acquired, and more than 100 have continued on to raise significant funding from some of the top tech investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Foundation Capital, Founders Fund, Greylock Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Social + Capital Partnership, and True Ventures.  

“It is an honor to welcome BASF Venture Capital as a Limited Partner with Alchemist,” said Ravi Belani, managing director at Alchemist. “Some of the most exciting innovations we are seeing, are at the nexus of the digital and material – few partners are as equipped to bring expertise in that area as BASF. We are thrilled to officially welcome BASF into the Alchemist family.”

The Alchemist Accelerator very recently revealed its 20th Class on January 23, 2019 to more than 200 investors, partners, and customers at Juniper Networks in Sunnyvale, California.

-Lynda Kiernan  

The post Brief: BASF Venture Capital Invests $2M in Alchemist Accelerator appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Pipeline Foods, the first U.S.-based food supply chain company focused solely on establishing sustainable global supply chains for organic and non-GMO food and feed, announced it has acquired SunOpta’s specialty and organic corn and soybean business for $66.5 million.

Through the deal, Pipeline adds 12 new facilities to its overall footprint spanning the Canadian Prairies, North Dakota, Southwest Iowa, Missouri, and Argentina. Included are eight grain elevators, one dry corn mill, one expeller pressed crush plant, and two grain processing and packing facilities located across Hope, Minnesota; Blooming Prairie, Minnesota; Ellendale, Minnesota; Moorhead, Minnesota; and Cresco, Iowa.

“We are excited by this incredible opportunity to grow our business and expand the accessibility of organic and specialty grains in the U.S.,” said Eric Jackson, chief executive of Pipeline Foods. “With this move, we are merging the newest team in the sustainable agriculture supply chain business with the most tenured and respected team in the business, and creating something even better.”

GAI News first reported on the birth of Pipeline Foods in February of this year, when AMERRA Capital Management and Pipeline Opportunity Partners announced their partnership to launch the company, which is dedicated to developing sustainable global supply chains to meet demand for organic and non-GMO ingredients and grains.

“We laid out an ambitious goal when we entered the market in 2017 to dramatically increase the amount of organic and non-GMO grain grown in the U.S.,” said Jackson. “This is a critical next step in our company’s growth. It will add new capabilities and products to the existing Pipeline Foods portfolio – a benefit to both our farmers and food company customers.”

These additional assets will help Pipeline achieve its target of seeing 250,000 acres transitioning to organic production this year. And toward that end, Pipeline has established additional regional headquarters in Winnipeg, Canada, and Buenos Aires, Argentina – giving the company a presence in three of the world’s top grain producing regions.

Through Pipeline’s intent to retain all of SunOpta’s employees, Pipeline will not only more than double its workforce, but will bring over 40 years of experience and history in the organic and non-GMO industry. This will enable Pipeline to extend all services, including grain merchandising, and its Farm Profit and Ag Impact programs to its growers and customer base.

“We are merging the innovation and investment power of Pipeline Foods with the tenure and respect of SunOpta, integrating the best parts of each organization to build a world-class business that can deliver value to our farmer-partners as well as our customers,” said Jackson. “We believe the respective organizations’ products, geographies, customers and farmer networks are very complementary to each other. Our focused passion for organic, sustainable and regenerative agriculture will only continue to grow. We foresee great things to come.”

Moving forward SunOpta will continue to operate its remaining North American sourcing and supply operations which include its sunflower and roasting business, and Tradin Organic, its European-based international sourcing and supply platform, which were excluded from the divestment.

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Pipeline Acquires SunOpta’s Specialty and Organic Corn and Soy Business for $66.5M appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Benson Hill Bioscience, and California Hemp Corporation, a tech-driven genetic company focused on the hemp seed market, have announced a sponsored research agreement with the laboratory of Dr. Edward Charles Brummer at the University of California, Davis.

Founded in 2012 in response to the global need to produce more food from existing arable acreage with limited inputs, Benson Hill employs cloud biology – the joining of cloud computing, big data analytics, and plant biology – to help advance the genetics of crops at a much faster pace and at a lower cost than traditional methods.

Through its revolutionary computational platform CropOS™ and suite of breeding and genome editing tools, Benson Hill empowers organizations of all sizes along the agri-food value chain through advanced seed innovation and leveraging the natural genetic diversity of plants.

In September of last year, Benson Hill closed on a $60 million Series C led by GV, and including Activant Capital and Tao Capital Partners, as well as existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments, Fall Line Capital, iSelect Fund, Lewis & Clark Ventures, Mercury Fund, Prelude Ventures, and S2G Ventures.

At the time, Andy Wheeler, general partner at GV said, “With its data-driven approach to crop improvement, Benson Hill has significant potential to impact the next wave of productivity gains across food and agriculture.”

Now, Benson Hill will be turning its CropOS™ capabilities to industrial hemp. The research program at UC Davis will center upon improving the breeding of cultivars of Cannabis sativa for the desired traits of high cannabidiol (CBD) content, low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, and the ability to thrive in the environmental and soil conditions of Central California and similar regions.

Ultimately, this multi-year program is expected to produce a wide portfolio of commercial field-grown hemp varieties for use in the production of health and wellness products.

“We’re gratified and excited to be leading this project,” said Dr. Brummer of UC, Davis. “It will be among the first significant hemp breeding program of its kind, for what may be the most important crop in a generation. It will also be our first use of groundbreaking breeding technology, which we believe has the potential to become the standard for the next generation of breeding professionals.”

The role of Benson Hill Biosystems’ computational platform Breed, powered byCropOS™, will be to employ predictive analytics to quickly identify and select desirable quality traits – giving the team greater precision and efficiency in breeding compared to traditional multi-generational field trials.

“Hemp is a versatile crop that has not been fully optimized for industrial food and fiber uses,” said Matt Crisp, CEO and co-founder of Benson Hill Biosystems. “The data analytics and machine learning capabilities of CropOS will tap the rich genetic diversity within this natural resource to develop improved varieties for use in nutritional and wellness products.”

Untold Potential for U.S. Farmers

Through hemp’s removal from the list of controlled substances and the legalization of its production by the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp now has the power to transform from what was once a boutique activity since 1937 when the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made the possession of cannabis and hemp illegal, into a business that has the potential to generate revenues of more than $20 billion per year by 2020.

Because of this legislation in place for decades, Lisa D. Hurst, of Dirt-to-Dinner.com explains in her piece, Hemp, an Opportunity for American Farmers, published by GAI News in January of this year, that the U.S. has had to import hemp textiles from China; hemp seed from Canada; and industrial products from Europe. Now, with clearance in the Farm Bill, American farmers can participate in this market.

Since its legalization, industrial hemp has become one of the fastest growing categories in the natural food segment, with hemp seed-based foods accounting for the majority of hemp-based foods market during 2017, according to a recent release.

Highly resilient, able to thrive in a range of conditions, naturally resistant to most pests, and since it grows in such highly concentrated spacing, naturally combats weeds, hemp is so useful and sustainable, that its cultivation was mandatory for the settlers of Jamestown, Virginia. And before the 20th century, was a key resource in the production of everything from ship’s sails to the paper on which the Declaration of Independence was drafted.

Today, it’s the health benefits of hemp that are at the forefront of its growing popularity. Rich in Omega-3 and Omega-5 fatty acids, hemp is a high-fiber, complete protein. It provides all ten essential amino acids with no enzyme inhibitors, making it highly digestible, and is also high in vitamin E, iron, and naturally-occuring vitamins and minerals.

“Clinical studies have demonstrated many benefits of hemp including the treatment of pain, insomnia, anxiety and seizure disorders,” said Patricia A. Hurford MD, MS Spine, Orthopedics And Rehabilitation (S.O.A.R.). “As a physician, I realize that understanding the genetic diversity of the hemp crop will help us cultivate plants that can improve the health and wellness of my patients.”
Other partnerships and tie-ins recently executed by Benson Hill include a partnership with AB InBev to develop improved and more sustainable strains of barley’ a partnership with Mars Inc. to improve the resilience and productivity  of the cacao tree; and a partnership with Beck’s to co-develop the first photosynthetic efficiency trait.

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Benson Hill Bioscience’s Latest Partnership Targets Industrial Hemp Production appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Boston-based biotech leader Ginkgo Bioworks announced the launch of Motif Ingredients, a food tech startup focused on the development of next-generation alternative proteins and other ingredients for global food companies.

“We started putting Motif together around February or March of 2018,” Jason Kakoyiannis, business development at Ginkgo and a director of Motif told Tech Crunch. “The germination of the business had its inception earlier though, from interacting with companies in the food and beverage scene.”

The spin-off coincides with a $90 million Series A funding round backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a leading investment fund focused on climate issues, and backed by some of the top billionaires in the world including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, and Vinod Khosla. Other investors include two of the biggest global food companies, Louis Dreyfus Company and Fonterra, and Viking Global Ventures. With this capital at its back, and powered by Ginkgo Biowork’s bioengineering platform, Motif Ingredients will create novel food solutions that diversify consumer choices without compromising nutrition or taste profiles.

Along with the launch, it was announced that Jonathan McIntyre, former head of R&D with Indigo Agriculture, and former senior vice president of R&D at PepsiCo will lead the new company, which will be headquartered at Ginkgo’s Boston Seaport facility.

“Sustainability and accessible nutrition are among the biggest challenges facing the food industry today,” said Jonathan McIntyre, PhD, CEO of Motif. “Consumers are demanding mindful food options, but there’s a reigning myth that healthy and plant-based foods must come at a higher price, or cannot taste or function like the animal-based foods they aim to replicate.”

To achieve this, Motif is leveraging biotechnology and fermentation to not only develop plant-based alternatives, but to engineer dozens of proteins derived from eggs, dairy, and meat that won’t risk expectations of taste or nutrition.

“Biotechnology and fermentation is our answer, and Motif will be key to propelling the next food revolution with affordable, sustainable and accessible ingredients that meet the standards of chefs, food developers, and visionary brands,” said McIntyre.

Demand for alternative protein foods such as meat alternatives and plant-based beverages soared by 17 percent last year, according to the company. Such climbing demand has called for food companies to rapidly innovate new ingredients, however, companies are facing challenges in maintaining taste and nutrition at mass market scale.

“To help feed the world and meet consumers’ evolving food preferences, traditional and complementary nutritional sources need to co-exist. As a global dairy nutrition company, we see plant- and fermentation-produced nutrition as complementary to animal protein, and in particular cows’ milk,” says Judith Swales, chief operating officer, Fonterra Global Consumer and Foodservice Business. “Our partnership with Motif enables us to be part of this emerging area and help meet the nutritional needs of the world’s growing population.”

Through a process similar to brewing beer, Motif will use fermentation with genetically engineered yeasts and bacteria to create vital new food ingredients including vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, and flavors. The process of identifying new fermented ingredients, and particularly new proteins that have been historically derived from animal sources, necessitates deep resources and experience.

With Ginkgo, which will maintain a minority stake in the company, Motif will be able to accelerate the R&D behind such ingredient advances, resulting in the same price, taste,and quality currently found on the market. Furthermore, food companies will be able to outsource its costly and time consuming R&D needs to Motif as a trusted innovator and supplier.

“Innovative or disruptive solutions are key to responding to changing consumer demand and to addressing the challenge of feeding a growing world population sustainably,” said Kristen Eshak Weldon, Head of Food Innovation & Downstream Strategy at Louis Dreyfus Company. “In this sense, we are excited to partner with Motif, convinced that its next-generation ingredients will play a vital role.”

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Ginkgo Bioworks Launches Food Tech Startup Motif Ingredients with $90M Series A Funding appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Kuli Kuli, a mission-drive manufacturer and distributor of morning-based bars, powders, smoothie mixes, and energy shots, has closed on a $5 million Series B led by Griffith Foods with eighteen94, the venture arm of Kellogg’s Company. Additional investors include InvestEco, S2G Ventures, Authentic Ventures, VilCap Investments, and Rocana Venture Partners.

The company also proudly announced backing from women-focused groups Portfolia, Astia Angels, Next Wave Impact, and individuals from Golden Seed.

In January 2017, Kuli Kuli was the maiden investment of Kellogg’s eighteen94, when it took the lead in a $4.25 million Series A for the company. S2G and InvestEco are also Series A participants and return investors.

“After eighteen94 capital led Kuli Kuli’s Series A financing in 2017, Kuli Kuli’s retail business tripled,” said Lisa Curtis, founder and CEO, Kuli Kuli. We’re thrilled to continue to partner with Kellogg to grow our retail business while partnering with Griffith Foods to expand into the foodservice and ingredient space.”

Founded in 2013 in Oakland, California, Kuli Kuli is led by CEO and co-founder Lisa Curtis, who while serving in the Peace Corps in Niger, became familiar with moringa, a plant protein that grows in tropical climates and whose leaves, pods, and oils provide higher levels of iron, calcium, and protein than leafy greens.

Similar to matcha, moringa is a versatile ingredient that has commercial applications across both savory and sweet categories, adding a complete protein and vitamins to produce highly functional and healthy foods. And similar to matcha and turmeric, Kuli Kuli believes that moringa will increasingly be found in a wide array of foods, beverages, and desserts.

Over the course of its five years, the company has been a pioneer for moringa in the U.S, market; creating a transparent and sustainable supply chain of small moringa farmers, expanding its retail network to 7,000 stores, and developing proprietary processing methods that produce a contamination-free product. And now, in an important move, Kuli Kuli is diversifying its footprint by supplying moringa as an ingredient to other major food companies.  

As part of the deal, Griffith Foods plans to include moringa in its range of ingredient offerings for its foodservice customers, processors, retailers, and distributors across 30 countries.

“Griffith Foods’ purpose, that ‘we blend care and creativity to nourish the world,’ calls us to find innovative solutions to changing needs. We also know that Griffith Foods cannot do this alone,” said Brian Griffith, executive chairman of Griffith Foods. “Our strategic partnership with Kuli Kuli will help both companies elevate moringa as an exciting new ingredient, and we look forward to bringing this sustainable and healthy offering to the food sector.”

Already a staple in Ayurvedic medicine, moringa also has the potential to make inroads in Western health and wellness categories. Since Kuli Kuli’s launched, consumer awareness of moringa’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties has grown, and a study conducted at Rutgers University has found that moringa’s anti-inflammatory ability may outperform those of turmeric.

Having reached a 3 percent penetration rate in U.S. households, moringa now outpaces matcha and it catching up to spirulina and wheatgrass to become the fastest growing green supplement, according to data from Nielsen.

At this point, Kuli Kuli accounts for more than half of the U.S. moringa market, and the company expects that it will soon be as popular as turmeric, which has a market currently valued at $11 billion in the U.S.

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Moringa Superfood Startup Kuli Kuli Eyes Growth With $5M Series B appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Boulder Food Group (BFG) announced it has closed its second fund, BFG II, oversubscribed at more than $100 million without employing a placement agent.

Founded by Tom Spier (co-founder of EVOL)  in 2014 in Boulder, Colorado, BFG is a food and beverage-focused venture investors focused on backing disruptive, better-for-you, innovative, and socially conscious food beverage and supplement brands.

Through its $50 million BFG I, the firm has an impressive track record, and holds some of the most forward better-for-you startups in their portfolio, including Good Day Chocolate, Malk Organics, Birch Benders, and OHI Superfood Bars. Indeed, after a holding period of only two years, BFG I divested Chameleon Cold Brew to Nestlé, a move reflecting success in identifying high-growth potential.

Combined, the BFG team has more than 30 years experience in the food industry. Spier himself has launched, grown, and sold food startups, while, managing partner Dayton Miller, who operates an office in Los Angeles, giving the firm a foothold in two of the top food hubs in the U.S., successfully sold his company Function Drinks to Sunsweet in 2015.

The firm states that it is this deep industry knowledge, combined with the firm’s track record, and its strategy to provide hands-on support to its portfolio brands is what sets it apart from its rivals.

“Fund II will give us the opportunity to invest deeper in a set of brands while staying focused on innovative early-stage food and beverage companies,” said Spier. “We’re exploring investments in a variety of categories with compelling value propositions for today’s changing consumer landscape.”

All For Function

The first investment made by BFG II will be in OLIPOP, the first clinically-backed digestive health beverage that benefits the microbiome, digestive function, and metabolic health as flavored tonics.

“We feel that OLIPOP is well-positioned at the intersection of great taste and true functionality, with nothing like it on the market”, said Miller.

Has BFG hit upon another high-growth opportunity?

With a CAGR of 6.1 percent, the global functional beverage market is expected to be valued at US$93.68 billion this year, according to data from Grand View Research Inc.

As health awareness plays a more forward role in consumers’ choices, function drinks are on a growth track, particularly in the U.S., UK , and Chinese markets. Investors and major CPG companies alike have been taking note, and are committing capital to gain a presence in the category.

In May of last year, CAVU Venture Partners led a $20 million funding round for REBBL, a maker of organic and functional coconut milk-based, super-herb beverages.

At the time, REBBL had posted triple-digit growth since its launch, which has attracted not only CAVU, the backer of powerhouse brands including BAI Brands, Health-Ade Kombucha, and Bulletproof Coffee, but BIGR Ventures, and PowerPlant Ventures.

One month later, General Mills’ venture unit, 301 INC  led a $12 million round of funding for NextFoods, the parent company of functional probiotic beverage maker GoodBelly.

The potential growth represented in functional beverages also attracted global giants in the beverage category, such as PepsiCo.

Not only have health conscious consumers been turning away from soft drinks, but several cities across the U.S., including Chicago and San Francisco, voted to approve taxes on high-sugar beverages as a means to mitigate health issued linked to their consumption.

In response, soft drink giants have been investing in functional, bolt-on acquisitions that offer diversification into the health and wellness aisle, while also providing a hedge against new tax laws and catering to changing consumer tastes.

This landscape led PepsiCo in December 2016 to announce a definitive agreement to acquire KeVita – a leading North American maker of fermented probiotic and kombucha beverages for an undisclosed amount, however Fortune reported at the time that the deal was in the neighborhood of $200 million.-Lynda Kiernan

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Boulder Food Group Closes BFG II Oversubscribed at More Than $100M appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

by Lynda Kiernan, editor, GAI Media

GAI News has been running a new feature called “Question of the Month”. Below are the expanded results of the first month’s responses, along with commentary from GAI News Editor Lynda Kiernan.

Question:

Given the development and integration of new technologies and the adoption of land reforms, together with Ukraine’s advantageous geographic location, superior soils, large labor pool, and low cost per unit of production, in your opinion, is this enough to outweigh the political, administrative, and regulatory landscape currently faced in-country by ag investors?

Wrap-Up:

Ukraine is a conundrum. The country is a nebulous web of positive factors that make for successful agricultural production, wrapped within a veil of socio-political factors that can be challenging to agribusiness at best, and threatening at their worst.

However, when taken as a whole, it appears that the negative outweighs that positive for nearly half of our respondents. The socio-political unease and regulatory uncertainty in-country vastly outweigh the positives of investing in agribusiness in Ukraine for 47.6 percent of our survey readers.

The remaining half of our respondents are closely split.

Caution is the key word for 28.6 percent of our respondents, who state that although Ukraine’s soil quality, geographical location, and production gaps are indeed desirable from an ag production viewpoint, the uncontrollable political factors that exist in-country require extreme caution on the part of investors.

Meanwhile, 23.8 percent of our survey takers are mavericks, stating that the positive aspects Ukraine has to offer represent the basis for successful agricultural investment and production, and all other challenges can be handled at-hand.

Among the mavericks is U.S.-based Horizon Capital and its backers, which in the first month of this year, closed its third Ukraine fund, the Emerging Europe Growth Fund III (EEGF III), at its hard cap of $200 million, exceeding its target of $150 million. It is interesting to note that this announcement represents the largest private equity closing targeting investment in Ukraine in 10 years. Does this portent change?

Nothing is static, and perhaps EEGF III reflects the beginnings of a shift. It may be that as greater foreign capital and foreign investors step onto the Ukrainian stage, greater domestic stability will follow. It will be interesting to see, with the deployment of funds such as EEGF III, if Ukraine begins a transformation into a market that more ag investors will see as a valid and relatively safe means for return on investment.

~ Lynda Kiernan

The post GAI News AgInvesting Weekly Question of the Month Wrap-Up – February 2019 appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

iUNU, a Seattle-based startup that develops computer vision and SaaS-based artificial intelligence applications for the greenhouse and indoor farming industries, announced it has secured $7.5 million in funding from BootstrapLabs, NCT Ventures, and others.

Commercial greenhouse operators are tasked with steep challenges – to balance a wide range of conditions such as temperature, humidity, crop diseases, and pests, for example, while needing to produce a large, uniformly standard crop of fresh produce for buyers who await a future harvest.

It is not uncommon, however, for commercial greenhouse production facilities to see crop losses of between 10 and 25 percent due to inconsistencies, poor visibility, inaccurate data, human error, and inefficiency related to manual data collection.

“With the greenhouse industry growing at a rate of 20 percent year-over-year, owners are scrambling to find solutions to manage and maintain their growing operations effectively,” said Adam Greenberg, CEO of iUNU. “iUNU’s solution turns growing operations into data-driven manufacturing facilities.”

Founded in 2013, iUNU’s comprehensive greenhouse management platform is able to harness computer vision to transform the way growers manage their operations. After a three year period of development and trials, the company last year released LUNA – its system that includes both mobile and fixed cameras and environmental sensors that scan a greenhouse operation from tracks, collecting data and on everything from inventory tracking and readiness alerts, to growth rates and readiness forecasting.

The data collected is analyzed and presented to clients in a easy-to-use decision support tool with actionable insights and production management capabilities on a granular level.

“I know that having a tool like Luna gives us the feasibility to have more accountability with the staff, the plants, and the environment,” said John Allen, director of strategic operations of iUNU client, Proving Grounds.

Nicolai Wadstrom, CEO and founder of BootstrapLabs, speaks to the notion that both industry and government leaders are equally interested in bringing change to the agricultural industry, which is on the cusp of a what is being called a fourth revolution, saying, “Agriculture is about to experience another industrial revolution, where Artificial Intelligence will drive game-changing efficiencies and sustainability improvements across the entire industry supply chain. With the United Nations predicting 9 billion inhabitants (worldwide) by 2050, and a need for global production to increase by 70 percent, the world needs solutions like iUNU today.”

This funding brings iUNU’s total backing raised to-date to $13.5 million, following a $6 million round in August 2017 that included Liquid 2 Ventures, which was founded by NFL great Joe Montana; 2nd Avenue Partners; Initialized Capital – the firm launched by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian; Fuel Capital, and others.

“When we saw how differentiated LUNA is from the other solutions in this space, we knew we had to invest in iUNU,” said Liquid 2 Ventures at the time. “LUNA provides a truly comprehensive understanding of each plant’s health and growth, focused on the plant’s actual performance, not just the environment around it. Closing the control loop has the potential to change the equation of the economics of commercial-scale, indoor horticulture.”

-Lynda Kiernan  

The post iUNU Raises $7.5M to Bring AI Advances to Commercial Greenhouses appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Australia’s largest listed crop handler, GrainCorp Limited, announced it has agreed to sell its Australian Bulk Liquid Terminals (ABLT) business to ANZ Terminals Pty Ltd. in a deal valued at A$350 million (US$248 million).

Included in the deal are eight sites for the storing and handling liquid fats and oil, fuels, and chemicals located across Australia with a combined storage capacity of 211,000 cubic meters.

Originally acquired by GrainCorp in 2012 as part of its deal to acquire the edible oils business Gardner Smith, the sale of the assets is part of GrainCorp’s strategic business review announced in December 2018.

“Since we acquired the assets in 2012, the Australian Bulk Liquid Terminals business mix has evolved substantially and is increasingly serving other sectors, in addition to the edible oils commodities that are more closely aligned with GrainCorp’s core business,” said Mark Palmquist, managing director and CEO, GrainCorp.

At the same time, GrainCorp began reviewing a potential takeover bid of A$2.38 billion (US$1.8 billion) put forth by Long Term Asset Partners (LTAP).

Newly formed and backed by Goldman Sachs Group, LTAP has been launched as an asset manager for a trust benefiting Australian investors. It is headed by former president of the Business Council of Australia, Tony Shepherd, and by former CEO of rail freight company Aurizon Holdings Ltd., Lance Hockridge, along with directors Andrea Stains and Chris Craddock, and former ADM executive director and GrainCorp general manager of ports, Nigel Hart.

GrainCorp assured that it will consider the offer, undertaking a period of conditional due diligence to answer various questions regarding LTAP’s backers, the financial structure of the deal, and its adherence to Australian regulatory requirements as it conducts an ongoing Portfolio Review.

“The timing of the offer is opportunistic,” Belinda Moore, equity analyst with RBS Morgans, told Reuters in December. “With the next opportunity for GrainCorp to possibly benefit from materially improved conditions not until 2021, shareholders will likely see this offer as attractive.”

ANZ

ANZ Terminals, the buyer of the GrainCorp’s ABLT assets, owns and operates a total of nine terminals – five in Australia, and four in New Zealand, with a combined capacity of 375,000 cubic meters.

Its backers include multiple fund managers and institutional investors including Palisade Investment Partners – which holds a 32 percent stake through its Diversified Infrastructure Trust – and two unidentified direct mandates, according to Infrastructure Investor. Additional backers include Global First State Global Asset Management, which holds a 23 percent stake, and Northleaf Capital Partners and Fengate Capital, two Canadian fund managers.

“This acquisition expands our footprint across the Australian bulk liquid terminals market, including key sites in Queensland and Victoria and opens up new geographies for us in Western Australia and Tasmania,” said Nick Moen, chief executive of ANZ Terminals.

As part of the deal, GrainCorp is entering into a long-term storage agreement with ANZ Terminals.

“ANZ Terminals is an established and respected bulk liquid terminals operator,” said Sam Tainsh, general manager of GrainCorp Oils group.  “We will work with ANZ Terminals to ensure a smooth transition for our customers and our people and through the long-term storage agreement we will have the access required for our trading and liquid feeds businesses.”  

The deal with ANZ is subject to various conditions, including GrainCorp not entering into a change of control or material alternative transaction before May 10 – in effect, giving LTAP until that date to finalize its potential takeover offer.

“There’s no certainty that LTAP will make a binding proposal for the company or what the terms of any such proposal would be,” said Graham Bradley, chairman, GrainCorp.

-Lynda Kiernan  

The post GrainCorp Sells Australian Liquid Bulk Terminals for US$248M appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

AcreTrader has launched a first-of-its-kind technology platform that allows individual investors to own American farmland by-the-share for as little as $1000.

“Farmland is a highly attractive alternative asset class with historically low volatility and impressive, debt-free returns,” said Carter Malloy, CEO, AcreTrader. “Unfortunately, aside from buying an entire farm and managing it, the few investment options available aren’t realistic for the majority of investors. Prior to AcreTrader, there hasn’t been an easy way to directly participate in farmland investing.”

Through its portal at AcreTrader.com, using a crowdfunding business model, and under the JOBS Act of 2012, the company uses enterprise-class technology, proprietary software, and processes to eliminate the entry barriers faced by investors looking to capitalize on the investment benefits and opportunities gained through farmland investing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sanctioned this form of crowdfunding in 2015, allowing startups to legally offer investors a stake in their venture through the online sale of shares.

The SEC had been weighing its decision for two years prior to its sanction, as a wide field of startups in fields including food, agtech, medicine, and biotechnology awaited the all-clear.

New legal methods of raising funds is good news for businesses, but for investors there is an element of risk. Almost half of all startups fail within the first five years, and some are voicing warnings that online investment crowdfunding could be prone to fraud.

Knowing this to be the case, SEC chair, Mary Jo White, stated at the public meeting before the vote, that the SEC “will begin immediately to keep a watchful eye on how this market develops.” The agency will track what types of companies are using the offerings, how they adhere to regulations, and if the new crowdfunding system advances the raising of capital and protects investors.

AcreTrader identifies prospective farms, and each parcel is subjected to deep due diligence and review prior to deciding if it should become an offering through their portal. And each shareholder will receive an annual cash payment from the farmers renting the land, while their shares increase in value over time as the price of farmland rises.

Founded by company CEO Carter Malloy last year, AcreTrader aims to increase transparency and security for investors, while also removing many of the challenges of owning land, by handling all administration duties including property management, insurance, accounting, and working with farmers and improving soil sustainability.

Carter’s experience includes investing on behalf of a long/short equity fund, and serving in the role of managing director for private investment bank, Stephens Inc. Working together with Carter is an experienced internal team and a board of advisors that collectively have managed billions of dollars of revenue and investments.

Since its founding, the company has maintained a low-key profile while in development, but now announces the acquisition of its first property, having closed on a leveled rice and soybean farm in the Arkansas Delta this month.

AcreTrader is not the only agriculturally-focused venture to employ crowdfunding. In 2015, Australia-based DomaCom, the self-labeled “fractional property investing platform”, worked to build a $410 million crowdfunding campaign aimed at self-managed super funds for the purchase and continued domestic ownership of S. Kidman, which was eventually acquired in 2016 by Australian Outback Beef (AOB) – a joint venture between mining magnate, Gina Rinehart and China’s Shangjai CRED for A$386.5 million.

Lynda Kiernan

The post Newly Launched Technology Platform Allows Investors to Buy American Farmland By-The-Share appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

Aroma Bit, a Tokyo-based deep technology startup, has raised JPY250 million (US$2.23 million) through a Series A led by existing investor, the Sony Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of Sony Corporation.

Led by CEO Shunichiro Kuroki, who founded the company in 2014, Aroma Bit develops low-cost, compact digital sensors that identify and create visual maps, or “fingerprints” for smells.

“Our vision is to create a new language that allows us to communicate this abstract world of aroma thru aroma visualization technology,” said Kuroki on his company’s website.

Understanding that each individual interprets smells differently, Aroma Bit’s sensor technology can mimic the human olfactory system in an objective way, creating a universal digital language to convert the abstract into concrete, usable information.

Agriculture, and the food and beverage industries, are two of the sectors being specifically targeted by Aroma Bit.  The company sees a natural fit for its technology through its ability to monitor food quality on an industrial scale, and its use to track uniformity in freshness across multiple production sites.  There also is the potential for its sensors to be used post-production, in a retail or home setting, to detect and visually inform of food spoilage.

Spinning Many Plates

With the support of not only the Sony Innovation Fund, but from existing major shareholders, East Ventures and Innovation & Future Creation Inc., Aroma Bit is working to build out the world’s first aroma database using its sensor technology.

As part of its business strategy, and in support of this goal, the company has released two new products:

Aroma Coder – a highly sensitive, high odor resolution desktop odor measurement instrument, using the Aroma Bit’s 35 proprietary 35 odor adsorption films, that can generate more than five quadrillion patterns reflecting different odors.

And –

SDK-1Q – a kit that includes a sensor module prototype that can detect a targeted smell; fitting for industrial use and quality control.

Furthermore, over the course of this year, the company is planning to launch a new collaboration program through which it will develop industry-specific innovative solutions using its sensor and data technologies in connection with specific partner companies.

With the capital gained through this Series A, Aroma Bit will strive for the further maturation and development of its compact odor sensor; for continued cost reduction and mass production; for the enhancement of commercialization of its services and technology; for the build-out of its debut smell database/analysis cloud development; for the global expansion of its sales and marketing initiatives; and to realize its corporate vision of “Realizing better society by visualizing the invisible world of odor/aroma through aroma imaging technology.”

-Lynda Kiernan

The post Japanese Startup Raises $2.2M for Odor Imagery Technology appeared first on Global AgInvesting.

This article will be featured along with other articles addressing investment opportunities in agriculture and surrounding themes in the GAI Gazette, Volume 6, Issue 1, which will be distributed in conjunction with the 11th annual flagship Global AgInvesting event, held in New York City on April 1-3, 2019. Join us in New York to hear valuable insight and best practices for investment strategy from the expert speaking faculty. Learn more and register.

By Philippe de Lapérouse and Mark Zavodnyik, HighQuest Consulting

While the consensus is that agriculture has emerged as a distinct asset class, it nevertheless continues to be viewed as a challenging allocation for institutional investors. Lower crop prices following three successive bumper crops of soybeans and corn in the Western Hemisphere and the impact of the current trade war with China – which resulted in an erosion of farm income and a softening of land prices in the U.S. Corn Belt – may dissuade investors from committing capital to agriculture. Yet, like most things in life, timing is everything.

While returns on portfolios invested in row cropland prior to, or during the peak in farmland prices four to five years ago are likely to be down, due to lower commodity prices and cash rents, the current weakness in U.S. farmland values represents an attractive opportunity to acquire farmland at reasonable values. This would be done in anticipation of a rebound in commodity prices, which will be driven by the strong secular trend in global agriculture (rising GDP and populations in developing economies leading to growing demand for food during a period of increasing resource constraints).

Despite the headwinds noted above, farmland, along with other sectors across the agricultural value chain such as:

• crop inputs and services;
• robotics in the field;
• aquaculture; and
• indoor agriculture

represent attractive investment opportunities to pursue over the next 12 to 18 months for both strategic and financial investors seeking attractive returns and exposure in the agricultural asset class.

Farmland

Institutional investment in farmland ranges between US$28-35 billion.¹ Given that the estimated size of the “investable” universe of farmland globally is US$1 trillion,² less than 3.5 percent of the investable universe is owned by financial investors. We are clearly still in the early stages of the financialization of the farmland asset class.

While average farmland values in the U.S. Corn Belt have fallen 20 to 25 percent from peak levels realized in the 2012-14 period, farmland values in the region have stabilized within the past 12 months. Media coverage of the U.S. farm economy paints a bleak view based on a misleading comparison of current financial performance with that of the “golden age” of 2012-2014, when in fact current financial returns have reverted to the historical mean. Total U.S. farmland generated a return of 6.74 percent in 2018 with annual cropland in the Central Corn Belt generating a return of 2.64 percent, which approximates the rate for the 10-year U.S. Treasury note.³ The financial performance of the asset class is not as dire as depicted in the press.

Productive annual cropland in the U.S. continues to remain in short supply and is increasingly subject to water constraints. In addition, there is increased competition for leases driven by younger growers seeking to expand the acreage they operate in order to maximize their productivity. In many cases these growers, who are strapped for capital, depend on “non-operators”, including individual investors, family offices, and large institutions, to provide the necessary liquidity in the farmland market which enables them to access this acreage.
Therefore, despite a number of challenges (eroding farm incomes, an increase in farm debt, questions regarding future demand for renewable fuels, and the ongoing trade war), U.S. farmland continues to offer investors an attractive investment option that:

1. Protects against inflation;
2. Is negatively correlated with other financial assets;
3. Reduces the volatility of returns in a diversified portfolio; and,
4. Provides wealth preservation in a flat yield curve environment with expectations of long-term growth in global demand for food.

Farmland prices and returns vary across regions and different crop systems within the U.S. For example, farmland in the Pacific Northwest region, where a highly diversified range of crops are grown, generated an average return of 8.86 percent in 2018.⁴ Thus, as we have pointed out, over the past two years institutional investors are shifting the weight of their farmland portfolios away from annual row cropland in favor of specialty and permanent crops. In January 2019, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation announced its intention to reconfigure the target allocation for its $852 million farmland portfolio from 80 percent/20 percent row crops/permanent crops to 60 percent/40 percent due to the expected higher returns for permanent crops. Similarly, the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana recently announced that it has established a $100 million separate account to be managed by Boston-based AgIS Capital for investment in permanent crops and related infrastructure.⁵

Disruptions in trade flows caused by tariff wars are likely to create opportunities for farmland investment outside the U.S. in countries located closer to major destination markets that are not embroiled in trade disputes. As countries dependent on food imports seek to diversify their sourcing of ag commodities, we expect that new players are likely to emerge, creating opportunities for farmland investing in non-traditional regions.

Crop Inputs and Services

Consumer concerns over food provenance and safety – where food comes from and how its produced (i.e. organic, non-GMO, sustainable production methods, etc.) – has emerged as a major trend in developed markets. As a consequence, consumers are playing an increasingly influential role in how food is handled and processed across the supply chain (production, processing, packaging, and distribution, etc.).

To stay ahead of this trend, retailers and distributors are requiring their suppliers to meet strict protocols that are radically upending established practices throughout the supply chain, and changing the range of crop inputs and services deemed acceptable for use in the field. This trend has opened the door for new players to develop and offer novel products, services, and technologies requiring a high level of sophistication to sell and support. This is disrupting the legacy ag retail and wholesale distribution sector in the U.S., with 100 of the largest ag retailers generating US$30.5 billion in revenue in 2019, according to CropLife magazine.⁶

The rapid adoption of new products and technologies (biologicals used for pesticides, fungicides and root development, and other precision ag technologies) has increased the options available to growers, which many legacy ag retailers find difficult to sell and support due to a lack of technological sophistication amongst their salesforce. There is clearly a shortage of skilled crop management advisors with the requisite technical expertise to advise growers responding to the changing requirements of the marketplace. Furthermore, with increased interest in “locally grown” agriculture and the growth of indoor agriculture, certain regions of the U.S. such as the Northeast, where agricultural production has largely been absent since the end of the 19th century, are experiencing an acute shortage of crop management advisors with the requisite technological skills.

“To succeed in the future, ag retailers will need to be generalists and broaden the depth of their expertise and technological knowledge as newer products such as advanced crop protection and agricultural bio-inputs come into the market,” said Chris Grallert, an industry expert and HighQuest Consulting affiliate.

New independent retailers (often not brick-and-mortar) have entered the market offering product knowledge and expertise, as well as a wave of new services such as product bundling, customized growing services, equipment, and data analytics. This is a sector where nimble new players and legacy crop input suppliers will have opportunities to acquire new capabilities and expand geographically by targeted acquisitions. For example, in January 2019, Wilbur-Ellis invested in Crop Enhancement Inc., a California-based producer of sustainable crop protection and agrochemical products for enhancing yields.⁷ The rationale given for the investment was “the powerful market force of hundreds of millions of consumers who demand sustainably produced foods.”⁸

Robotics in the Field

In response to a shrinking and more expensive labor force, the adoption of robotics in agriculture is increasing. The global market for ag robotics has been estimated by various industry analysts to be ~ US$3 billion and is expected to increase to US$12 to US$13 billion over the next seven years.

Increasingly stringent U.S. immigration laws are complicating the ability to hire competent and qualified labor in agriculture. While the national median annual cost of a U.S. farm worker in 2017 was $23,730 (or $11.41 per hour)⁹, the median cost for farm labor in California, where adoption of robots is the fastest in the U.S., is $20 per hour.¹⁰ According to a California Farm Bureau Federation survey conducted in 2017, 55 percent of responding growers have experienced labor shortages in recent years. Given that a majority are growing high-value crops, such as berries and grapes which have proven difficult to harvest mechanically, the labor shortage is particularly challenging.¹¹

Adoption of robots as an integral part of farm production provides labor cost savings and generates increased operating efficiencies. For example, the Harvest CROO Computerized Robotic Optimized Obtainer can pick a single strawberry plant in 8 seconds and cover 8 acres of strawberry fields in a single day, replacing the labor of 30 human pickers.¹²

The following are examples of recent investments in ag robotics:

• Blue River Technology’s (acquired in 2017 by John Deere for US$305 million) See & Spray devices combine machine learning with robots to identify exactly where the use of herbicides is required, thereby enabling them to significantly reduce overall usage.¹³

• Yamaha Motor Co. of Japan announced in 2018 that it had invested US$8 million in Robotics Plus, a New Zealand-based producer of robotics technologies used to grow and harvest fruits such as apples and kiwifruit.¹⁴ Yamaha’s interest in ag robotic technology is driven by persistent labor shortages in Japan.

With growing global demand for high-value specialty crops, the adoption of robots across the agricultural supply chain is expected to continue increasing, providing attractive investment opportunities.

Aquaculture

Global demand for seafood has increased 3.2 percent annually since 1960, outpacing the growth in the world’s population, with per capita consumption during the period increasing from 10 kg to more than 20 kg.¹⁵ Demand for seafood is driven by developing markets in Asia where fish has historically been a traditional source of protein, and by the trend toward healthy diets in developed markets. Given the growing demand and restrictions on wild catch fisheries, seafood production in farmed systems has increased dramatically over the past decade, growing at 8 percent annually since 2010.

While investment in integrated aquaculture production continues to attract capital, most investments in aquaculture have focused on developing alternative proteins (derived from insects, algae, and single cell proteins) to produce less expensive analogues for fish meal protein and fish oil (DHA) traditionally fed to carnivorous species such as salmon. This is due to the perception that investing in nutrition is a less risky proposition than investing in other sectors that support the aquaculture industry.

New gene editing techniques such as TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9, which act as “molecular scissors” to precisely cut into DNA to remove genes which are replaced with optimal genes from the same species, offer the opportunity to boost productivity of aquaculture production by reducing stress, and increasing disease tolerance while avoiding concerns over the use of gene transfer between organisms.

Finally, given estimates that 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported and 50 percent of that is farm-raised, guaranteeing the origin and the way a fish was raised is likely to become the accepted standard for the industry. Novel technologies, including digital infrastructure, that support traceability in the seafood supply chain will offer attractive opportunities for investors willing to spend time analyzing the sector.

Indoor Ag

Indoor agriculture has been one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors in the U.S. This method of “farming” can be undertaken in both urban and rural areas, reduces the water and carbon footprint of crops grown, and provides an opportunity to grow high-value crops year-round in inhospitable climates. It also reduces the distance required to ship products to urban areas with high population densities.

In 2017, the industry was comprised of 40,000 farms, operating more than 1 billion square feet of surface area, and produced crops with an approximate market value of US$15 billion.¹⁶
Labor costs, which are estimated to account for 49 percent of production costs for hydroponic farms and as much as 79 percent for aquaponic farms, are the primary factor limiting the industry’s ability to continue growing and attract capital.¹⁷ To reduce labor costs while increasing operating efficiencies, operators are seeking to integrate new automation technologies. Given that vertical farms require more labor than greenhouses (which typically operate at ground level), automation will be the critical factor determining the ability of vertical farms to achieve optimal scale.

Recent investments in indoor agriculture have focused on increasing automation. In January 2019, 80 Acres Farms, an indoor vertical farming startup based in Ohio, announced that it had raised US$40 million from Virgo Investment Group to build the first fully automated indoor farm.¹⁸ “The advantages of integrating a higher level of automation in indoor agricultural operations are too numerous to ignore: 24/7 availability, harvesting multiple crops with minimal change-over, germ-free, and one worker per machine vs. multiple pickers,” said Graham Mitchell, industry expert and HighQuest Consulting affiliate. “The indoor growing and vertical farm sector is going to be a first mover in adopting labor-saving automation and robotics technologies because the environments are controlled and predictable.”

Industry experts expect operators and investors to focus on the adoption of increased automation not only to decrease labor costs, but also to enable them to diversify the number of crops grown. This provides an opportunity to upgrade existing farms as well as build greenfield projects.

Other Opportunities Abound

Attractive investment opportunities are not limited to the sectors highlighted above. Another area to monitor is the market for products and technologies addressing animal health. Merck’s recently announced acquisition of Antelliq – a digital livestock tech company focused on digital animal identification, traceability, and monitoring solutions – from BC Partners for US$2.37 billion, marks the largest investment in ag technology to date.¹⁹ This sector will undoubtedly provide further investment opportunities as advances in IoT converge with big data and new technology solutions to redefine animal health and management in order to meet growing global demand for animal protein, and address consumer and regulatory concerns regarding traceability and food safety.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Philippe de Lapérouse is a managing director at HighQuest Partners, a leading global strategy advisory and consulting firm. HighQuest advises strategic players operating in and financial investors allocating capital to the global food and agricultural value chains on making informed decisions on strategy and resource allocation. Lapérouse chairs the Global AgInvesting conference series. He can be reached in St. Louis at +1 314.960.1632 or via email at pdelaperouse@highquestpartners.com.

Mark Zavodnyik is project manager for HighQuest Partners where he leads the day-to-day execution of consulting projects, advising clients on strategy and investment decisions across the global agricultural value chain. Previously, he was the lead tropical oils trader at AAK USA with responsibility for all sourcing, trading, and risk management in the United States. Zavodnyik has spoken at industry conferences on the efforts the industry has undertaken to make palm oil more environmentally sustainable. He can be reached at +1.574.274.3099 or via email at mzavodnyik@highquestpartners.com.

 # # #

DISCLAIMER: All views, data, opinions and declarations expressed are solely those of the author(s) and not of Global AgInvesting, GAI News, GAI Gazette, or parent company HighQuest Group.

^{1. Wheaton, Bradley and Kiernan, William. “Preqin Natural Resources Online” and “Farmland: An Untapped Asset Class? Quantifying the Opportunity to Invest in Agriculture”. Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management and HighQuest Partners. December 2012. (accessed February 15, 2019).↩}

^{2. Wheaton, Bradley and Kiernan, William. “Farmland: An Untapped Asset Class? Quantifying the Opportunity to Invest in Agriculture”. Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management and HighQuest Partners. December 2012. http://www.macquarie.com/dafiles/Internet/mgl/com/agriculture/docs/food-for-thought/food-for-thought-dec2012-us.pdf (accessed February 15, 2019).↩}

^{3. NCREIF Farmland Property Index – 4th Quarter 2018↩}

^{4. NCREIF Farmland Property Index – 4th Quarter 2018↩}

^{5. Kiernan, Lynda. “Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana Creates $100M Separate Account with AgIs”. GAI News. January 23, 2019. http://www.globalaginvesting.com/teachers-retirement-system-louisiana-creates-100m-separate-account-agis/ (accessed February 15, 2019).↩}

^{6. Hopkins, Matt. “CropLife Magazine Unveils Annual List of Top 100 U.S. Ag Retailers”. CropLife. December 3, 2018. https://www.croplife.com/croplife-top-100/croplife-magazine-unveils-annual-list-top-100-u-s-ag-retailers/ (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{7. “Cavallo Ventures Makes Strategic Investment in Crop Enhancement to Advance Sustainable Agriculture”. Press Release. January 22, 2019. http://crop-enhancement.com/2019/01/cavallo-ventures-makes-strategic-investment-in-crop-enhancement-to-advance-sustainable-agriculture/ (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{8. Ibid.↩}

^{9. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/agricultural-workers.htm#tab-1 (accessed February 12, 2019).↩}

^{10. Larkin, Michael. “Labor Terminators: Farming Robots Are About to Take Over Our Farms”. Investor’s Business Daily. August 10, 2018. https://www.investors.com/news/farming-robot-agriculture-technology/ (accessed February 12, 2019).↩}

^{11. “Searching for Solutions: California Farmers Continue to Struggle with Employee Shortages”. California Farm Bureau Federation. 2017 Agricultural Labor Availability Survey. http://www.cfbf.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CFBF-Ag-Labor-Availability-Report-2017.pdf (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{12. “Harvest CROO (Computerized Robotic Optimized Obtainer) – Creating a Robotic Solution to the Declining Labor Force in Agriculture”. Harvest CROO Robotics. https://harvestcroo.com/about/ (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{13. Kiernan, Lynda. Pontifax Exits Precision Ag Company Blue River Through $305M Deal with John Deere”. GAI News. September 7, 2017. http://www.globalaginvesting.com/pontifax-exits-precision-ag-company-blue-river-305m-deal-john-deere/ (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{14. Kiernan, Lynda. “Yamaha Returns to Invest Another $8M in New Zealand Agtech Startup Robotics Plus”. GAI News. November 21, 2018. http://www.globalaginvesting.com/yamaha-returns-invest-another-8m-new-zealand-agtech-startup-robotics-plus/ (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{15. “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014”. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3720e.pdf (accessed February 11, 2019).↩}

^{16. Kopf, Allison. “Let’s Talk About Market Size”. Agrilyst. May 19, 2017. https://medium.com/agrilyst/lets-talk-about-market-size-316842f1ab27 (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

^{17. “State of Indoor Farming 2017”. Agrilyst. https://www.agrilyst.com/stateofindoorfarming2017/ (accessed February 11, 2019).↩}

^{18. Kiernan, Lynda. “80 Acres Raises ‘Significant Investment’ for First Fully Automated Vertical Farm. GAI News. January 23, 2019. http://www.globalaginvesting.com/80-acres-raises-significant-investment-first-fully-automated-vertical-farm/ (accessed February 14, 2019).↩}

^{19. Kiernan, Lynda. “Merck Makes Largest AgTech Acquisition on Record –Acquires Digital Livestock Tech Compnay Antelliq for $2.37B. GAI News. December 19, 2018. http://www.globalaginvesting.com/merck-makes-largest-agtech-acquisition-record-acquires-digital-livestock-tech-company-antelliq-2-37b/ (accessed February 13, 2019).↩}

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Ubiquity Ventures, a new California-based early stage venture firm,  debuted in January of this year with a $30 million fund.

After six years with Bessemer Venture Partners, Sunil Nagaraj stepped away and launched Ubiquity, a seed-stage investor in “software beyond the screen”, focusing on startups with smart hardware and machine intelligence applications.

“Nerdy and early is my mantra,” said Nagaraj, founder and managing partner of Ubiquity Ventures. “I aim to be the investor that is most like the founders I invest in.”

Whether in agriculture, mobility, or manufacturing, Ubiquity aims to find investment opportunities aligned with a specific theme of “software leaping off the screen and entering the real world.”

“By starting a tightly-focused firm, I can move at founder speed, giving high-potential teams early capital so they can get to market as fast as possible without jumping through hoops,” said Nagaraj.

Within months of launching, Ubiquity has announced its first six investments that meet its vision.

“I believe the companies in Ubiquity’s portfolio will be life-changing for many people,” said Nagaraj.  “Some of these companies provide solutions to problems that we didn’t know could be solved…”

Included in the cohort is Halter, a New Zealand agtech startup developing a new technology with a tall mission: to reduce farmer’s work hours, enhance the well-being of cows and other livestock, protect the environment, and increase milk production.

The company’s artificial intelligence-powered “point and click” application, in combination with proprietary “Cowgorithm” and cow collars, allows farmers to manage livestock from anywhere in the world. The patented technology app allows farmers to set schedules to guide herds to the milk shed, receive alerts when cows are in distress or in poor health, and create virtual fences to corral the cows.

“Our patented cow control algorithm, known as CowgorithmTM, works seamlessly with our device, providing directional audio and vibrational cues to the cows to establish a virtual boundary around the animal, Craig Piggott, Halter CEO explained to GAI News in an interview. “The virtual boundary can subsequently be moved, which results in moving an individual cow, and ultimately the entire herd.”

Over the past two years the Halter team has spent thousands of hours working with farmers to understand their processes, challenges, and how Halter’s technology can enhance operations.

With backing from a list of Silicon Valley investors including Data Collective and Founders Fund, Halter has begun its commercialization phase, taking pre-orders from interested farmers, and planning a full commercial rollout for the beginning of this year.

“We are fortunate to have raised capital from an incredible group of investors including DCVC, Founders Fund, Ubiquity Ventures, Promus Ventures, and more,” Piggott told GAI News. “We are all aligned with our vision to reshape the farming sector and enable it to become more profitable and sustainable, and will require further capital to support our growth as we look to scale.”

Although the company began development with a focus on cows, Halter has plans in the pipeline to expand the application of its technology to include sheep, goats, and deer. Piggott explained the potential for growth that lies ahead, saying, “The scale of the market opportunity, coupled with our team and patented technology, has investors excited about our ability to transform the agriculture sector and create a large and enduring global company.”

-Lynda Kiernan  

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Family-owned Mars Inc. announced the launch of Seeds of Change™, an early stage, food-focused accelerator established to foster rapid growth for food startups.

Named after the company’s organic seed and food brand, Seeds of Change™ will select six initial participants from the U.S. and four from Australia in the areas of: startup up food brands, innovative experiential offerings, new business models, and emerging technology.  The selected companies will be chosen based on how aligned their business is with Mars’ values of World Flavors, Plant-Based Eating, Easy Meal Solutions, Responsible Food, and Creating with Care.

“We’re committed to nurturing the next generation of food innovators who are dedicated to creating and delivering healthier and tastier food solutions for more people,” said Fiona Dawson, global president of Mars Food, Multisales and Global Customers, and sponsor of the program. “The accelerator is one of the many ways Mars Food is working to bring our Purpose – Better Food Today. A Better World Tomorrow. – to life.

In recent years there has been a flurry of accelerators and venture capital arms launched by large CPG companies including Kellogg, which launched eighteen94 in 2016; Campbell Soup, which launched Acre Venture Partners that same year; Nestle, which launched the Terra Food + AgTech Accelerator in partnership with Rabobank in 2017; Kraft Heinz which launched Evolv Ventures in 2018; General Mills which launched 301 Inc. in 2015; PepsiCo which launched PepsiCo HIVE; and Barilla, which launched Blu1877. The establishment of Seeds of Change™ is indicative that there is still an ongoing shift occurring within the food sector, and that there remains a scenario in which Big Food needs the rapid-response innovation generated by startups as much as startups need the capital available from Big Food.

“The food space is moving at an incredible pace today,”Clarence Mark, chief marketing sales, and innovation officer for Global Mars Food, told Food Business News. “The Seeds of Change™ Accelerator will help forward-thinking entrepreneurs and innovators scale their ideas and ultimately enhance the meals of tomorrow.”

And although Mars is a leader in the global confectionery space, and has $35 billion in global sales from some of the world’s best-loved brands, it can employ the accelerator as a tool through which to gain a presence in the wider, and more cutting-edge food universe by seeking out new developments beyond the category.

Led by Gary Arora, global lead of open innovation at Launchpad for Mars, the accelerator will award $50,000 to each participant in the four-month program. Additionally, each will be given access to a panel of industry expert mentors, including Stephen Badger, chairman of the board for Mars, Inc.; brand builder and recent “guest shark” on Shark Tank Rohan Oza; and JKR, a design-led creative agency with a history of launching noted startups.

“The Seeds of Change™ brand is a prime example of the power of starting small and growing strong,” said Arora. “Seeds of Change™ was founded nearly 30 years ago to preserve the biodiversity of seeds and to make these organically grown seeds more readily available to gardens and farmers. By helping start-ups tackle practical business challenges, such as scaling a product and brand storytelling, and giving them access to our extended network of mentors and advisors, we’re nurturing the next generation of fresh ideas that will shape and enhance the meals of tomorrow.”

-Lynda Kiernan 

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